This invention pertains to the field of devices for use in smoking cessation.
Smoking cigarettes is a habit prevalent among the United States population. Although cigarette packs are printed with warnings concerning the possible health risks of smoking, laws have been passed to confine smokers to particular public areas, and aversion to second hand smoke has been made well-known through a great amount of publicity, many people who want to quit smoking for health and aesthetic reasons still find themselves unable to do so.
Several approaches to assist a smoker in quitting smoking are in common use. In the xe2x80x9ccold turkeyxe2x80x9d method, the smoker ceases smoking at a given time. Over 88% of former smokers report having tried unsuccessfully to quit smoking using the cold turkey method of smoking cessation (Fiore, et al. 1990. xe2x80x9cMethods used to quit smoking in the United States. Do cessation programs help?xe2x80x9d J Am Med Assoc 263:276-2765). The nicotine patch serves as a transdermal nicotine delivery system to provide the nicotine drug to a person under the theory that smoking can be reduced or eliminated if the addictive component of the cigarette is provided to the bloodstream through a mechanism other than inhaling the nicotine-bearing smoke which contains over 4,000 chemicals and toxins. Another approach is utilizing nicotine gum, inhalers or sublingual tablets; again, mechanisms of nicotine delivery other than through smoking. Other methods have employed acupuncture, hypnosis, and prescription drugs.
Despite the availability of these smoking cessation aids, the success rate among motivated smokers to quit smoking is very low, approximating 7%. Because addiction or perceived addiction to cigarette smoking is not susceptible to a magic bullet or successful for all those that wish to quit permanently, several authors have suggested that behavioral modification techniques could be helpful. One behavioral modification method is a self-administered gradual reduction of smoking.
Several methods and/or devices have been used to achieve a gradual reduced smoking regimen. In the early 1970""s, timed prompts and audible cues to alert a smoker as to the next permitted smoke were employed to instruct subjects when to smoke. (Shapiro et al. 1971. xe2x80x9cSmoking on cue. A behavioral approach to smoking reduction,xe2x80x9d J Health Social Behavior 12: 108-113, Bernard, H. S. and Efron, J. A. 1972. xe2x80x9cEliminating versus reducing smoking using pocket timers,xe2x80x9d Behavior Research Therapy 10:39-41). While some studies reported use of such self-administered controlled smoking devices resulted in significant decreases in average cigarette consumption, there were significant problems associated with their use. Reduction methods are commonly compromised when smokers control the timing of their cigarettes, eliminate only lowest priority cigarettes, maintain the reinforcing effects of nicotine in highly rewarding associations, and fail to exercise coping skills when confronted with usual smoking cues.
Use of computer-assisted smoking cessation scheduling protocols has been facilitated by palm-held microcomputers delivering timed alerts over ever-increasing intervals. Such programs require smokers who manually registered each smoking event. Various protocols in use serve as a systematic pacer to step-down tobacco consumption. As nicotine fades, the smoker adjusts to longer spans between cigarettes and, presumably, practices coping skills to better tolerate withdrawal. Benefits of this type of method and/or device include reductions in withdrawal symptoms, frequency of urges, frequency and severity of negative affect, and side effects. Conversely, increases in self-efficacy and effectiveness of coping behaviors seemed to contribute to more positive outcomes.
A method and device have now been found which provides not only a passive means of recording and time-stamping, smoking events (measuring cigarettes smoked) but also a means by which scheduled plans for diminution in smoking can be calculated, critical changes in the smoking schedule can be made and the schedule communicated to the user. The user need not actively provide data to the device which provides for greater accuracy and compliance. The device and method can also be used for the diminution or cessation of other habit-forming substances.